Thank you again for all the reviews! I have chosen three stories that I will update regularly until I finish them; The Willing is one of them.

Chapter Ten—Vengeance Is Mine

"Safflower seeds?"

"Yes, please."

Harry carefully uses his wandless magic to pour the seeds into the cauldron that Theo has been working on preparing. He still isn't good at dicing and cutting and squashing ingredients, but he's great at adding things in such a way that Theo doesn't have to worry about looking away from his own preparations.

Harry was a little worried that his magic wouldn't be great at this, given how violent it is most of the time, but it turns out that his magic does whatever Harry wants when he has Theo to think about.

To think, all I needed was someone to protect.

"Abraxan feathers next?"

"Only three. And only add them after I stir it three times counterclockwise." Theo turns back to face the cauldron and dips in a stirring rod that seems to be made of glinting glass.

Harry watches his face. Theo is quiet, settled, determined. He's far more focused than he has been in the last few weeks, when he suffered under the effects of Amortentia and was strong, but brittle.

Now…

"Feathers, please."

Harry floats the feathers above the cauldron and then drops them in. They land in the cauldron and swirl for a moment, following the now clockwise motion of Theo's stirring rod. Then they dissolve.

The potion is a brilliant silver color, filled with little glints of light that look like stars. Harry appreciates that something so beautiful will also be the instrument of Theo's vengeance. He hopes that Greengrass and Malfoy and Parkinson—who have all confessed under Veritaserum now, who know that something's coming but not what—will also appreciate it.

Harry did tell Professor Slughorn that he was the one who destroyed the door of the Slytherin common room. He said he was worried something was happening with Parkinson, who after all did try to get him thrown out of the school and given to Voldemort. Slughorn swallowed that like a mouse with cheese and worked with the Headmistress to repair the door.

Professor McGonagall did give Harry long looks while she and Professor Slughorn were doing that, but Harry just radiated innocence every time he saw her, and it's not as though Parkinson has been harmed.

Not really. Harry just explained the consequences to Theo's tormentors of telling anyone about the Veritaserum, while he casually floated a stone in front of them and tore it to atoms with his magic. They got the message.

Malfoy has even been looking a bit more sulky and a little less scared in the last few days. Maybe he thinks that Harry and Theo aren't going to do anything.

So stupid.

"The orange peel."

Harry lobs the orange peel in from a distance, since Theo told him that when the potion began to look silver like this, no magic should touch it directly. The peel lands, and Harry leans over the cauldron rim to see the silver deepen to a dark blue, even more like the color of the night sky with stars glinting in it.

Theo spins the rod abruptly through a few quick stirs, and then seems to be holding his breath, so Harry does the same thing. Theo watches the potion, counting with taps of his fingers, and then stabs the stirring rod down like the cauldron is a vampire he wants to stake.

A huge bubble wells up from the center of the potion and pops. Theo ducks and pulls Harry with him. Harry goes, biting his lip so that he doesn't ask Theo if everything is all right. He wouldn't have chosen this method of vengeance if he wasn't sure, Harry reminds himself.

Theo stands up at last and sighs a little, shaking his head at the cauldron. "It worked."

Harry peers in. There's a disappointingly small amount of dark blue potion at the bottom. "It did?"

Theo glares at him. Harry holds up his hands. "I don't know anything about brewing potions. I'll take your word for it. But it just seems like a small amount to really make them pay for what they did."

"You agreed to go along with my plan."

"Of course I did. That doesn't mean I can't voice my own opinions."

Theo hesitates a moment, as though he's considering whether that's really true, and then inclines his head. "Yes. This potion is concentrated. It's like feeding them a small amount of a truly impressive poison rather than a large amount of one that will only make them sick."

"It'll make them suffer?"

"They won't be able to disguise their suffering."

Harry smiles, and sees the fond way Theo looks at him. It's amazing—wonderful, thrilling—that Theo just likes him better the more violent Harry gets. For that matter, Harry didn't know he could want to be this violent. He didn't even defeat Voldemort with a violent spell.

Ultimately, though, he would do anything for Theo. Including being violent, chaining the violence, or waiting for vengeance for years, when Greengrass, Parkinson, and Malfoy were more established and had more to lose.

He's glad he doesn't have to do that last.

"Will it have immediate effects? How are you going to get it to them?"

Theo steps closer, into Harry's space. Harry's breath stutters, and he has to focus hard to keep listening to Theo's voice instead of drifting off into some private sanctum where he's doing nothing but gazing dreamily into his eyes.

"One effect will be immediate, yes. After that, they'll come and go at unpredictable intervals, and escalate. And as for how I'm going to get it to them, I assume they'll be protecting their food and drink because of what they did to me with Amortentia."

"Yes?"

"So I'll need your magic's help."

"Anything," Harry breathes, and watches with wonder the light that blooms across Theo's face when he says that. Is this what being in love feels like?

No wonder Ron and Hermione went mental in sixth year.

Theo steps into the Great Hall and smiles a little as he sees Harry looking at him with absolute confidence. He tilts his head in Harry's direction and walks over to the Slytherin table.

Blaise pats the seat next to him, the way he's been doing since the confrontation in the Slytherin common room. Theo sits down next to him and nods. He's glad beyond words that Blaise didn't participate in the "prank" to dose him with Amortentia. That might have caused a breakdown for Theo that not even Harry could fix.

"So?"

"So? Good morning." Theo spreads his scones with more butter than they technically need, but he feels like indulging himself this morning. He glances in the direction of the Gryffindor table, then restrains himself. He knows that Harry has the potions vial in his pocket, and also that Harry is going to spread the potion for him. He has to trust.

He does trust Harry. He also just has the irrational fear that something might go wrong at the last moment.

"What is going to happen?"

Blaise speaks softly, but his eyes dart back and forth between Harry and Theo, while his hand grips his fork so tightly that Theo will be surprised if the pattern of the handle isn't imprinted into Blaise's palm. "You're drawing attention."

"You think they don't know you're after them?"

Theo leans around Blaise to check the rest of the table. Daphne, Pansy, and Draco are all sitting near each other. They're discussing something in a low voice, but the "something" is easily guessable, given the way all their heads swivel towards Theo at once. Theo smiles at them. They promptly turn away.

"You're not being very subtle," Blaise notes.

"Neither are they."

"Fair. Tell me they're going to suffer in ways they've never imagined."

"They might have imagined them," Theo says softly. "It'll be humiliation at first. Worse things afterwards."

"The way they planned for you?"

"In a way."

Blaise looks discontented, but occupies himself with eating. Theo does the same thing, restricting his glances towards the Gryffindor table to one every few minutes, instead of constantly staring the way he wants to.

Harry appears to be looking down at his food with sleepy-eyed concentration. Theo is the only one who knows that he's concentrating to work the cork out of the vial containing the Vengeance Potion, and then float the tiny drops of potion across the Great Hall on gentle air currents controlled by his magic. Those drops will enter Draco's, Daphne's, and Pansy's bodies through their ears, their nostrils, their mouths, and the very pores of their skin.

They think they've protected themselves, Theo thinks, looking at the shimmering light of spells over the top of his enemies' plates and goblets. Like I thought I had. They will suffer so much more than they ever did from boredom or fear or the stigma of their own actions. They will plead and cry for me to lift the punishment. I never will.

He thinks he actually sees a small dark blue droplet flying up Draco's left nostril, and has to look down at his plate to conceal his satisfaction. Especially when he hears a slight choke from Daphne's direction.

"Beginning now?" Blaise mutters under his breath.

"Yes," Theo says, although he's only sure of it once he raises his head and turns around to look.

Daphne has one hand across her mouth, her eyes wide. The potion in her body is stirring up her digestion in the exact way that Theo wills it to happen, and she can't stop it forever. The next instant, a resounding belch tears through the Great Hall, loud enough to make the Ravenclaws turn around and stare.

Theo doesn't look at Harry, instead widening his eyes, but he can imagine Harry's sharp-edged amusement. "Are you all right, Daphne?" Theo asks with fake concern.

"I—" Daphne breaks off in another belch, this time making a few Gryffindors start to applaud.

"What did you do?" Pansy demands. She doesn't seem to notice that her hand is dipping into the marmalade and taking out a large scoop. She stuffs it into her mouth, in such a way that most of it drips down onto her robe.

"What makes you think I did something?"

Pansy bites her lip and says nothing, still not noticing that she's eating the marmalade the way she does. People down the table are starting to giggle, and so are some of the Ravenclaws whose attention Daphne attracted. She looks down, stares at her hand for a second as if not comprehending what it's covered with, and then shoves it into the marmalade again.

Daphne belches a third time.

"We know you did something."

Theo glances at Draco and smiles a little. He doesn't appear to have noticed the way he's rubbing butter on his cheeks and into his hair. "Are you going to talk about what you did, then?"

Draco hesitates. That's why Theo didn't bother to Memory Charm the lot of them after they confessed. Yes, Theo and Harry would get in trouble for stealing and using the Veritaserum, but Draco and the rest would get in trouble for use of Amortentia to specifically make another student their pet. Or toy. The potion itself isn't illegal, but the intention of using it to rape someone—instead of "harmlessly" use it to make someone fall in love with them—would be.

(Theo doesn't think there's that much difference between the two intentions, but he doesn't make the rules).

And besides. This way, Theo knows they suffered all weekend wondering what his next move would be, where the vengeance would come from.

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Parkinson! Miss Greengrass! Are you quite all right?"

Slughorn, sensitive to the reputation of Slytherin after—everything—is standing up and staring at them. Draco gives him a look of confusion as he smears butter all over his chest. "Sir? What are you talking about?"

Theo adjusts his will slightly. This way, Pansy and Draco will notice what they're doing, although they won't be able to stop it.

Draco starts and looks down. His face goes violently red at the butter all over his robes, and he tries to draw his wand, probably to cast a Cleaning Charm. Instead, he just grabs more butter and dumps it in his hair.

Pansy gives a little shriek, which is muffled because her mouth is full of marmalade.

Daphne belches hard enough to rattle the teacups on the table around her.

"Sir, we were—"

Daphne glances sideways and catches Theo's eye. She stops speaking at once, and not only because the next belch is struggling to come up her throat. Theo promises silently what will happen if they tell the truth.

Still more afraid of him than they are of Slughorn's consequences—which is wise of them—Daphne looks at Slughorn and whispers, "I don't know what's happening, sir. I think someone must have pranked us."

She belches loudly enough this time to make a Hufflepuff first-year fall off the end of his bench.

"Well, come with me, all of you," Slughorn says, with a little sigh and shake of his head. From the quick dart of his eyes towards Theo, Theo is more than certain that Slughorn suspects some of the truth. But he doesn't say anything about it, only turning away. "We'll make sure that the prank potion or spell is defeated in the hospital wing."

Theo quietly lets his will leak away from the three who tormented him as they leave the Great Hall. Madam Pomfrey will examine them and find nothing. The potion is so concentrated that it would take someone casting diagnostic charms far more precise and fine than a mediwitch could manage to find its traces.

For the first time in what feels like an hour, Theo looks up and catches Harry's eye.

Harry's bright, savage smile makes Theo pulse with a desire so great that he has to take a little breath and then a drink of pumpkin juice, before turning back to the rest of the Slytherin table to discuss what just happened.

I want him.

But Theo doesn't yet know what to do with that yearning, so he simply smiles when Blaise catches his eye and lifts his glass in a small toast to Theo.

"Did you have something to do with this, Harry?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Ron and Hermione exchange concerned glances. Harry smiles a little and goes back to eating his food—for real this time, not using it as a cover to get the cork and the potion out of the flask that Theo gave him. The food is only porridge and fruit, but it sparks in his mouth like Firewhisky.

Because of the look Theo gave him.

I want him. But I'll be patient and wait as long as he needs. I'll win him.

Lost in thoughts of Theo, Harry misses the next thing Hermione says, and starts a little when she puts her hand on his arm. He looks up with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Hermione, what?"

"Harry, did you…"

"Yeah?"

"Did you do this to help Nott? Or did you do it because those three Slytherins did something to Nott?"

Harry shakes his head, gently, and Hermione looks conflicted. But Harry tries to be as clear as he can without giving Theo's secrets away. "It's the kind of thing I can't tell you right now."

"Even if—even if I promise not to react to it like I did the news about the portrait?"

"I don't hold that against you, Hermione. And it's not really your reaction that matters. It's because I've promised Theo."

"He really is Theo, huh?" Ron asks, leaning around Hermione to give Harry a long, thoughtful look. "You must be closer to him than anyone knows."

"Well, yeah. No one knows because Theo didn't want it spread around."

"He's ashamed of you?"

Harry rolls his eyes. "Hardly. I'm not ashamed of him, but you know exactly how Gryffindor would react to me being friends with a Slytherin. Especially someone with a last name they all think of as belonging to a Death Eater."

"What did happen to his father?"

Harry debates telling them, because more people than Theo probably know Mr. Nott is in a magical coma, but he doesn't want to risk the slightest action that might betray Theo. Theo has already experienced so much betrayal, and Harry can't bear to add to it. "If Theo wants people to know, he'll tell them."

"Harry…"

"Yeah?"

"It just sounds like you're in thrall to him or something."

"I'm being loyal. The same way that I was to you for so many years. I know that some people might think we were too close or that I should have more friends. Or that you should," he adds to Ron, who turns bright red. Hermione didn't have that many close friends as a kid, just like Harry, but Ron grew up in the magical world in a house that was pretty normal for that world. "So you don't need to worry about me."

"Harry."

Harry wheels around to see Theo standing at the edge of the table. His eyes are bright, and he's extending one hand to Harry. Harry rises and walks over to him, shaking his head when Ron and Hermione get up to follow him.

"I'll catch up with you in Charms."

They sigh, but they stay where they are. Their trust makes Harry's smile at Theo extra bright. "Where do you want to go?"

"The dungeons. There's—something I want to try."

Harry follows along willingly, and they dodge through corridors and around corners until they're far deeper than the classroom where they go to practice Occlumency. Harry isn't afraid, though. When Theo turns around near a stretch of blank wall and says abruptly, "Please put your hands behind your back," he complies without a second thought.

Theo stands for a moment staring at him, as if he doesn't understand why Harry did as he said. Harry is just about to ask him if he's all right when Theo's hands rise.

And they settle on Harry's shoulders.

Harry shakes, his eyes locked on Theo's face, his heart leaping so hard that he wouldn't be surprised to look down and see it pounding through his shirt. But he can't look down. He just looks at Theo, and trembles.

"I've never owed anyone what I owe you," Theo whispers.

Harry nearly opens his mouth to object, because if Theo is going to go on about debts and how terrible it is for him to owe Harry again—

"But I won't do that," Theo says. "Because I've finally realized that you mean it, that you don't want me owing you debts, and understanding that matters a lot more to me than the feeling of owing you."

He reaches up, one hand moving as though he's tracing it along the silken line of a spiderweb, and settles his fingers on Harry's cheek. Harry's heart really is going to pound out of his chest any moment now.

Especially when Theo's fingers come to rest on Harry's lips.

Harry stands, frozen, not even daring to turn his head to take Theo's fingers in his mouth the way he wants to. He knows exactly how fragile the trust Theo is showing him is, and how easily it can be broken.

He never wants to break it.

"I'll see you later," Theo breathes, like a promise, and then his hands fall away from Harry's mouth and shoulder and face and he's striding away, almost running.

Harry lowers his head and finally unclasps his own hands, raising one to trace over his lips and the places Theo touched him.

He wraps the memory delicately in his mind, locks it in place with his heartbeats, and practically floats off to Charms.